Hearing devices are portable hearing apparatuses which are used to supply the hard-of-hearing. To accommodate the numerous individual requirements, different configurations of hearing devices such as behind-the-ear hearing devices (BTE), in-the-ear hearing devices (ITE) and concha hearing devices are provided. The hearing devices designed by way of example are worn on the outer ear or in the auditory canal. Furthermore, bone conduction hearing aids, implantable or vibrotactile hearing aids are also available on the market. The damaged ear is herewith either stimulated mechanically or electrically.
Essential components of the hearing devices include in principle an input converter, an amplifier and an output converter. The input converter is generally a receiving transducer, e.g. a microphone and/or an electromagnetic receiver, e.g. an induction coil. The output converter is mostly realized as an electroacoustic converter, e.g. a miniature loudspeaker, or as an electromechanical converter, e.g. a bone conduction receiver. The amplifier is usually integrated into a signal processing unit. This basic configuration is shown in the example in FIG. 1 of a behind-the-ear hearing device. One or a number of microphones 2 for recording the ambient sound are incorporated in a hearing device housing 1 to be worn behind the ear. A signal processing unit 3, which is similarly integrated into the hearing device housing 1, processes the microphone signals and amplifies them. The output signal of the signal processing unit 3 is transmitted to a loudspeaker and/or receiver 4, which outputs an acoustic signal. The sound is optionally transmitted to the ear drum of the device wearer via a sound tube, which is fixed with an otoplastic in the auditory canal. The power supply of the hearing device and in particular of the signal processing unit 3 is provided by a battery 5 which is likewise integrated into the hearing device housing 1.
During telephone calls, it is favorable if signals are not transmitted acoustically from the telephone to the hearing device, but are instead transmitted inductively in an interference-free manner. To this end, receiver coils are used in the hearing device, which are to be set up in a suitable manner. Furthermore, coils of this type can also be used as transmission coils for inductive transmission to an external device, e.g. second hearing device, remote controller etc.
To integrate the inductive antennae and/or coil into ITEs, the coil was previously positioned on the faceplate in a fixed manner. For manufacturing-specific reasons there was no other way of doing this. The new computer-aided manufacture of ITEs has enabled the coil to be individually positioned in the hearing device shell for some time. The spaces available in the individual shell can herewith be better utilized, so that either the hearing device is reduced in size or a coil can even be provided in the hearing device. Within the scope of this computer-aided manufacture, so-called “semi-modular faceplates” are produced, in which the faceplate and the coil are not realized as a fixed module. Instead, the coil is only connected to the faceplate by way of an electrical line, but is otherwise structurally separated from the faceplate. One advantage of this solution is however that the coil can be positioned and oriented independently of the faceplate in the hearing device shell.
Installing the coil at the individual location nevertheless results in a number of problems: The hearing device shell of an ITE only comprises one small opening, through which the coil has to be inserted and positioned. Furthermore, the holder of the coil is not permitted to “block” the sound channel during installation and the holder has to be able to be disassembled from the shell for repair work, in order to be able to replace the receiver which sits further inside the hearing device shell. In addition, the individually positionable coil is required to be able to be arranged at any point in the shell, so that no unnecessary space is used.
The publication EP 1 435 758 A1 discloses a housing for a hearing device with a housing shell, a device plate connected to the housing shell and a cover arranged on the housing shell or the device plate, in which cover an electronic element is arranged. The cover is mounted in a pivotable fashion on a hinge element of the device plate by way of a pin for instance. The hinge element comprises for its part electrical contact studs, in order to realize an electrical contact with contact strips on the cover, when the cover is in a pivoted state.